What exactly does it mean to be insulin resistant? And how does a person become insulin resistant? I am not a diabetic but I am overweight and a friend told me I am insulin resistant and headed for diabetes based on my weight. What do you think? I would love any insight. My fasting blood sugar was normal the last time I had my labs drawn which was in July.

Hello alpinemeadow, what a lovely name, you have given me a lovely mental picture

I am diabetic, and I think your friend means that when someone is overweight then fat cells can encase the insulin and prevent it from transporting glucose to the muscles to be turned into energy....I hope that I have this right.
Which is why we diabetics can feel very tired, because the glucose then builds up in the bloodstream and doesnt reach the muscles to be burned up.
Our body cant make use of the insulin that is produced.

So in theory everyone who is overweight is in danger of this happening and therefore heading for diabetes. Except,,,,not every overweight person is diabetic...

But as you say your levels were OK. You may be lucky and never get diabetes.

You May or may not be Insulin resistant.....I am not sure how one can tell.

Be Overweight Definately Produces some insulin resistance but Insulin resistance does not = Diabetes. Although Almost all type 2's are insulin resistant.

the difference between a Diabetic and a none diabetic is that the Diabetic can not Produce enough insulin to over come the resistance where a non diabetic will just produce more insulin to overcome the resistance.

If you are resistance does that mean you have a greater chance to become diabetic? It does seem that way but it is really unknown. The Cause of Diabetes is largely unknown. But what is known is what things increase the risk. Being Overweight is one of them.....but what isnt really known is if it is Being Overweight that causes insulin resistance and then insulin resistance causing diabetes, or is it Being overweight causing insulin resistance and causing Daibetes?

Lots of people wil try to tell you that EAting too much sugar causes it, or bein overweight causes it, etc etc.

but The truth is it is unknown. Most of the Proposed causes are just speculation and have not been proven...at least not yet. In fact The Eating of Sugar and Carbohydrates and Insulin Spikes and so forth has actually been shown to not be factor at all. Both the Canadaian and american Diabetes associations have made it known that Diabetes is not cause or influenced by what you eat. But being Overweight is the numberone factor.

Insulin resistance quite simply means that there is too much glucose in the blood stream. And the body's cells are protecting themselves from the toxic effects of it by denying entry. Organ and muscle cells keep excess glucose out early in the process by shutting down insulin receptors. But fat cells have a much greater capacity for glucose. They turn it into saturated fat, which is stored (the fat cells simply get bigger). Which is why people with insulin resistance put on weight very easily and have tremendous difficulty losing it.

All this this begs the question of what causes the excess glucose in the first place. There is a lot of opinion around on this, much of which is not very well supported. Buts as consumed carbohydrate is converted to glucose, the cause of insulin resistance must surely be excessive carbohydrate consumption.

As far as telling whether you are insulin resistant or not is concerned, this is very easy. A fasting insulin level test is all you need to do. If your fasting insulin level is above 10, your beta cells are producing excessive amounts of insulin to keep your blood sugar in the normal range, and you are insulin resistant. Apparently it is not uncommon for T2s to have fasting insulin levels of 90+.

A diabetes diagnosis simply means that your blood sugar is elevated. With type 2, this is the result of insulin resistance which starts years ealier. And the only way to reverse insulin esistance is to go on a low-carb diet. Your cells will start switching on insulin receptors again and insulin levels will decline.

Well, that is my take on it anyway.

Cheers,

Mark

__________________
Type 1 since 1977. On Lantus, Novorapid and Actrapid.

Being overweight does put you at greater risk than if you were not. As someone mentioned that a fasting glucose test will tell if you are diabetic, I want to add that not always.

There are 2 (at least) prediabetes conditions. Impaired fasting glucose, IFG, is when your fasting blood is over 100. Fasting glucose will reveal that. But there is also impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) is when the fasting is normal but the after meals are not. The oral glucose tolerance test that was used is falling by the wayside. Personally I think it is a rare situation where that would be the needed test.

Preventing diabetes can be your motivation to loose weight.. Good luck.

If you are going to make claims like that why dont you give some evidence. I am sure Most Endocrinologists would like to see your evidence to this.

You make your comment as if it is obvious that that must be the reason....I dont see anything obvious about it. And when it comes to Science what may seem obvious ofton is not. Take Penicillin......it would have seemed obvious at the time that Mold was poison and something to be completely avoided...yet it led to one of the most important discoveries of all time.

I have been consulting with endocrinologists since I became T1 nearly 30 years ago. I still see an endo once a year. And I occasionaly ask for his opinion. But when it comes to understanding how diabetes works, I find doing my own research much more useful. I am very sceptical of conventional medical wisdom because it is so heavily influenced by big pharma and food company public relations. I draw heavily on the ideas of non-mainstream independent thinkers like doctors Richard Bernstein, Ron Rosedal, Michael Eades and Mary Enig, to name a few.

Cheers,

Mark

__________________
Type 1 since 1977. On Lantus, Novorapid and Actrapid.

Surely its very interesting question. The fact that so many good people participated to post is another factor to prove the interest the question has stimulated.
Now its important that we learn from the experience of others to gain and not blame or question the integrity of others.
Lets accept the fact that its natural & beyoned our control to get the complete solution or reason or remedy for Diabetes, but fact remains that the good remedies, controling ideas, containing suggestions & experience of right Do's & Dont's about food, Nutrition, exercise & care by all the wise people can lead us to better management & control of the Diabetes & live better quality of life.
So lets work & appreciate the efforts of the wise & kind people, who can spare the time & share the wisdom by way of helping people like me, with hopes in this Health board - dedicated to serve humanity - doing a Noble service. Lets be greatful to God that we are able to exchange our Ideaes & Wisdom to "Takecare"

now i'm more confused than ever? i'm not overweight or anything so how could i be insulin resistant? my doctor doesn't know much about it and it's going to take awhile to get into a endo. so need some help. as for the low carb diet it does make me feel better and was the only answer she had for me at the time? please help me understand more of what is going on and what medications if any will help?

Keep in mind that not all carbs are bad for insulin resistance. High fibre carbs, like legumes, oatmeal, etc, can make insulin receptors on cells much more sensitive. That will decrease your insulin resistance. It is the bad carbs, the "white" foods that have little or no fibre or nutritional value that you need to avoid.

now i'm more confused than ever? i'm not overweight or anything so how could i be insulin resistant? .....

afbigbird82,

One view is that you don't have to be overweight to become insulin resistant. You just have to eat lots of carbohydrate. The thinking goes something like this :

You are born with over 40,000 insulin receptors per cell, which are required for the absorption of glucose and all the other anabolic nutrients. As you grow up and this requirement declines, insulin receptors shut down. The number of insulin receptors should stabilise at about 7,000 for adults. But if there continues to be excessively high levels of glucose and insulin in the blood stream (caused by a high-carb way of eating), your cells have to do something to protect themselves from the toxic effects of all this glucose. So they continue to shut down insulin receptors.

This is what happens when you become insulin resistant. Because there aren't enough available insulin receptors, your insulin can't do its job properly. And your blood sugar starts rising. High glycemic carbs like sugar, bread, potatoes etc will make your blood sugar spike. But all carbs, high or low GI, will increase the supply of glucose to the bloodstream, stimulate your pancreas to produce more insulin, and encourage your cells to shut down more insulin receptors.

It doesn't matter how much you weigh. This process is carb consumption driven. Having said that, insulin is the fat-storage hormone. And people with high insulin levels (because they are insulin resistant) put weight on very easily. Which is why people that have been insulin resistant for a while are usually overweight. But this is not a pre-condition.

This is a somewhat alternative view of the process. But it makes very good sense to me. I have been a type 1 diabetic for 29 years. And I have recently become aware that I have become somewhat resistant to the insulin I inject. I have never been overweight. But, for most of my 49 years, I have been on a high-carb diet.

If the low-carb diet is working for you, go for it! Also get as much exercise as you can. These two tactics together are the best defense you have against insulin resistance. Try and avoid the drugs. They don't fix the fundamental problem, and their effect is at best temporary.

Cheers,

Mark

__________________
Type 1 since 1977. On Lantus, Novorapid and Actrapid.